Contents

History

The DHARMA Initiative

It appears the cabin was constructed sometime prior to the Purge by Horace Goodspeed as the means for him, his wife, and supposedly his son Ethan, to get away from the day to day bustle of the DHARMA Initiative. As the blueprints of the cabin were found on his body in the mass grave this may suggest the building was never quite finished. ("Cabin Fever")

Recent events

Locke's first visit

After demanding to see Jacob, Ben brought Locke to the cabin from the Others' camp. Arriving at night, they first encountered a line of ash around the cabin and stepped carefully over it before approaching the cabin.

Ben pretends to be talking to Jacob.

On entering, Ben approached an apparently empty chair in the middle of the room addressing the "person" there as Jacob. Seeing no one there, Locke became convinced either Ben was trying to deceive him or was truly crazy. Disgusted with this charade, Locke turned to leave when he heard a low voice say "Help me," that Ben did not seem to hear. Turning back to the room, Locke accused Ben of speaking, but Ben denied that he had. Switching on his flashlight and sweeping it around the room, both men appeared shocked when the room began to shake. Objects shook violently and flew across the room, a rocking chair suddenly began to move of its own accord, and the lamp fell to the floor and caught fire. Ben grabbed ahold of the chair he had addressed before, telling him he'd had his fun, but was thrown back against the far wall by a mysterious force. Looking back across the room, for a split second, Locke saw a mysterious individual sitting there.

Moments later, upon fleeing the cabin, both men appeared somewhat shaken. Locke asked what had just happened, and Ben responded, "That was Jacob." ("The Man Behind the Curtain")

Hurley's visit

While trekking across the Island to warn the survivors about the freighter crew, Hurley accidentally fell behind. On wandering alone through the jungle and trying to catch up, Hurley was startled to see the cabin in front of him with a light gleaming from one of the windows. The cabin this time appeared to be in the center of a clearing and not at all where Locke had previously encountered it.

Approaching gingerly, and peering in through, Hurley saw "Christian Shephard" sitting in a rocking chair, when suddenly someone else's eye appeared at the window. Hurley screamed, and ran directly away from the building, but suddenly came up short a short distance away when he found himself literally in front of the cabin again. To all appearances, the cabin had seemingly shifted location. As the front door of the cabin began to slowly open, Hurley shut his eyes, concentrating and telling himself it was not real over and over. Upon reopening his eyes, the cabin was gone. ("The Beginning of the End")

Hurley did not observe the circle of ash surrounding the cabin. Later, when Locke mentioned that the group was going to the cabin, Hurley seemed to feel that they were going the wrong direction. ("Confirmed Dead")

Locke's second visit

On attempting to return to the cabin with his group, Locke was unable to locate the building. Strangely, however, he did find the same circle of ash at the same location. ("The Economist")

Locke's third visit

Following a dream in which he met Horace Goodspeed, Locke located a set of blueprints on Horace's corpse found at the mass grave of DHARMA Initiative members killed in the Purge. The blueprints contained a map of the cabin's location on the Island in addition to detailed specifications on the construction for the building. Using the map as a guide, Locke was able to successfully return to the cabin with Ben and Hurley. Declining to join him, the two men elected to wait outside while Locke entered on his own. Ben stated that he would not enter the cabin as Locke was now the leader of the Others.

Entering, Locke found the same dirty ramshackle interior with the exception of finding "Christian Shephard" sitting in the shadows. Locke asked, "Are you Jacob?" "Christian" introduced himself and claimed he could speak on Jacob's behalf. Locke was then perplexed to discover Claire also sitting nearby, smiling calmly. On asking what she was doing there, Claire told Locke not to worry, that she was here with "Christian". Seeing Locke beginning to ask questions about her presence, "Christian" abruptly brought Locke's attention back to the matter at hand: Keamy's mercenaries returning in the helicopter from the freighter. Locke asked, "How do I save the Island?"

Locke emerged from the cabin a few minutes later, informing Hurley and Ben that an unspecified "he" wanted them "to move the Island." ("Cabin Fever")

Ilana's visit

Three years later in 2007, Ilana, Bram, Frank, and the other members of Ilana's group arrived at the cabin carrying the large airline crate containing Locke's corpse. On approaching the building, Bram noticed the ash circle was broken and shouted a warning to Ilana. Entering the cabin cautiously, Ilana found it abandoned and empty, but for a small scrap of cloth held to the wall with a knife. Removing it, she found the cloth contain a small stylized image of the statue of Taweret. Exiting the cabin, Ilana informed Bram that Jacob was not there, that he had not been at the cabin in a long time and that someone else was using it. She then ordered the others to set fire to the cabin. The group departed, leaving the structure to burn. ("The Incident, Part 1")

Layout

Ash circle

In several instances, individuals arriving at the cabin have discovered a line of gray ash that appeared to encircle the building. Ben appeared to regard the line with caution in stepping over it, but made no comment as to its purpose.

Exterior

The cabin exterior was marred by age and neglect. A single lantern hung on a post outside on the front porch. When visiting for the first time, Ben explained to Locke that there was no other sources of light as Jacob has a strong dislike of technology. Locke made use of the same lantern in his meeting with Christian. ("The Man Behind the Curtain") ("Cabin Fever")

Interior

The interior of the cabin was dim, dirty, and neglected. Several objects, old and unused, appeared about the single room, including:

Visitors

Mathematician in the DHARMA Initiative who originally built the cabin for himself and his wife for relaxation away from the Initiative; he appeared to Locke in a dream, and his message guided Locke to a map showing the cabin's location.

The Man in Black disguised as Christian Shephard was seen by Hurley sitting inside the cabin. "Christian" claimed to represent Jacob when Locke entered the cabin a second time and told Locke that he must "move the Island."

Trivia

According to the DVD commentary for "The Man Behind the Curtain", when Ben is talking to the "empty chair", there was no officially written dialogue for what Jacob was supposed to be saying. Instead, actor Michael Emerson prepared to play the scene properly by writing notes in his own script to reflect "Jacob's" unspoken lines.

All of the cabin's appearances thus far have been accompanied by a unique sound effect playing quietly in the background, a repeated rising tone not unlike a bird call.

According to commentary for "The Man Behind the Curtain" on the Season 3 DVD by producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, the circle of ash is "a bit of a kind of protection or magic or kind of containment. Ben is afraid to touch it. In a certain way, part of the idea here is that Ben has some powers over Jacob, and Jacob has some powers over Ben, and there is a bit of a stasis."